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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Stir Fry Garlic Scapes With Shrimps

Garlic tops, called flowers or garlic scapes are a gourmet delight . The entire stalk and flower are edible. They have a delicate flavor which gives a subtly different and delicious flavor and they are wonderful additions to stew, roasts, marinade, salads, sandwiches, sauces, bread, pasta, pesto, stir fry, roasted and it can be either steam whole and serve with melted butter like the asparagus or stir fry with shrimps. The possibilities are endless and this time, I decided to stir fry them with shrimps. Lovely flavor..simple to prepare , tasty and the natural sweetness from the shrimps and garlic scapes were the reason for me to have to two servings of rice :)

Garlic grows underground as a bulb. In its early stage, the bulb is soft and onion-like, but as it grows, it gets harder and pokes a shoot through the ground. Later on this shoot develops into a flower stalk that is the garlic scape. Harvesting the scape helps the garlic plant put more of its energy into the bulb (and become the garlic that we all know).

Do not overcook the garlic scapes or the nutrients will be lost in the process. Garlic scapes contain Vitamin C, Iron and Calcium . Love the crispness of garlic scapes and its subtle aroma of mild garlic . I have not eaten this for some time now and eating them again was sheer delight :) Garlic scapes are seasonal veggie , I saw lots of them in the market last Saturday and bought some home. I added more shrimps for WB because he love shrimps :)

Stir Fried Garlic Flowers With Shrimps

Ingredients:

150g fresh garlic flowers, cut into 2 inches lengths

15 pieces of shrimps – remove shells and leave tail intact , devein

3 pips of garlic, finely chopped

A tablespoon of premium oyster sauce

* pinch of salt – depend on one’s taste

3 tablespoon of water

1 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine

2 tablespoon grapeseed oil

Method:

Heat up wok or frying pan with 1 tbsp of grapeseed oil . Add in the chopped garlic and sauté till fragrant. Add the shrimps and continue frying until shrimps are cooked. Dish up and set aside. Add 1 tbsp of oil to the wok and add in the garlic flowers and stir frying to coat with oil, then add the water and continue frying till water is almost dry. The purpose of adding water is to create hot steam to cook the garlic flowers faster. Add in the cooked shrimps wine, oyster sauce and salt to taste and dish out. Serve this with rice.

I haven't been able to find garlic scrapes around here in FL...maybe we don't have a garlic season. I love this dish though, it looks fantastic. I've made something similar with garlic chives, I could use that for this dish!